JP2001184400A - Advance payment type slit issuing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively and easily manage an advance payments type slip aiming at the sales of identification information required for settlement. SOLUTION: In a system, a server managing a data base recording at least information on the stock and the sales of the advance payment type slip is connected with clients installed in one or plural stores by a network. A means by which the client receives the issuing of the advance payment type slip, a means by which the client requests the server to send identification information, a means by which the server retrieves the data base and sends identification information which is not issued yet to the client, a means by which the client receives identification information, outputs the advance payment type slip on which identification information and an issuing gate are printed and returns effect that the output is completed and a means by which the server records the issuing date as a sales date in the data base are disposed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a system for issuing a prepaid voucher.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When a prepaid voucher is in the form of a card, it is called a prepaid card. Some prepaid cards do not have information on the status of use, solely for the purpose of selling identification information necessary for settlement. In such a prepaid card, in order to prevent the identification information required for payment from being misused by a third party, the identification information required for payment is concealed so that it cannot be seen by anyone other than the purchaser, while the information on the usage status is Are centrally managed by a host computer or server of a company or its agent that provides goods or services settled by a prepaid card.

[0003] For example, in an international telephone card which is a prepaid card for making an international call, identification information required for settlement, which is an ID printed on the back side, is hidden by scratching. This ID appears when the scratch is scraped with coins or claws. When making an international call, a purchaser of an international telephone card inputs his / her ID into the telephone, so that the host computer of the telephone company recognizes the ID and makes a telephone call. The host computer of the telephone company records the talkable time for each card, and subtracts the talkable time according to the talk time.

[0004] For example, BitCash Co., Ltd.'s BitCash Co., Ltd., which is a small-payment prepaid card for purchasing contents such as images and sounds on a Web site, has 4 characters × 4 lines called card information printed on the back side. The identification information necessary for the settlement consisting of the hiragana is concealed by applying a scratch. This card information appears when you scratch the scratch with coins or claws. Bi
When a purchaser of tCash selects content desired to be purchased on the Web site and inputs card information, a server of BitCash Co., Ltd. recognizes the card information and can download the content. The server of BitCash Co., Ltd. records the balance for each card, and subtracts the purchase price of the content from the balance.

[0005] Such a prepaid card has the following problems.

[0006] Concealment of identification information necessary for settlement is generally performed by:
This is done by applying the above-mentioned scratch or attaching a concealing seal. For this reason, on the manufacturing side, the cost is increased by adding a material and a process for concealing, and on the other hand, on the use side, it takes time to scrape a scratch or peel off a seal, and generates dust.

Further, in order to conceal the identification information necessary for settlement, an identification number for management must be provided separately, while the prepaid card is treated as a cash voucher, so that it is not stolen or lost. You have to use nerves for inventory management. In addition, since prepaid cards are sold at many stores, it is difficult for companies that provide goods or services to be settled with prepaid cards to know the sales date (date of starting use), Sales management is also difficult, for example, it is complicated to manage sales results.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and is intended to provide a prepaid type voucher exclusively for selling identification information necessary for settlement at a low price in an environment. The task is to be gentle and easy to manage.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a server for managing a database which records at least information on inventory and sales of prepaid vouchers. A system in which a client installed at one or a plurality of stores is connected via a network, wherein the client accepts issuance of a prepaid voucher, and the client requests a server to send identification information. And the server
Means for searching the database and sending unissued identification information to the client, and the client receiving the identification information, outputting a prepaid voucher on which the identification information and the issue date are printed, and indicating that the output has been completed A prepaid voucher issuing system characterized by comprising means for returning to a server and means for recording the issue date as a sale date in a database by the server.

[0010] According to the second aspect of the present invention, a server that manages a database that records at least information on inventory and sales of prepaid vouchers and clients installed at one or more stores are connected via a network. A system wherein the client accepts the issuance of a prepaid voucher, the client requests the server to send print information including identification information, and the server searches the database to identify the unissued identification. Means for sending print information including information to the client;
Receiving the print information including the identification information, outputting a prepaid voucher in which the print information including the identification information and the issue date are printed,
A prepaid voucher issuing system characterized by comprising means for returning the completion of the output to the server, and means for the server to record the issue date as a sale date in a database.

In the invention according to claim 3, the server is:
The prepaid voucher issuing system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising means for generating a report based on information on inventory and sales recorded in a database.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system of the present invention includes a server 1 having a printer 4 for printing a report and an auxiliary storage device 2 for storing a database, and a printer for outputting a prepaid voucher. A plurality of clients are provided, and the server 1 and each client are connected via a network 3. Server 1 and each client
A computer with a built-in clock.

The server 1 manages a database such as registration, update, search, and deletion. Then, the server 1 performs, based on the information recorded in the database,
There is a report creation function for displaying various reports or printing them with the printer 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the printer is provided with a discharge port 5 for discharging a prepaid card. In FIG. 1, the client and the printer are housed in separate housings, but they may be integrated into one housing.

Each client, along with its own printer, is located at a store that sells prepaid vouchers. The server 1, together with the auxiliary storage device 2 and the printer 4 of the server 1, is placed in a company or its agent that provides goods or services to be settled with a prepaid voucher. Network 3
May be any type as long as data can be transmitted between the server 1 and each client. For example, a dedicated line, a public line, or the Internet may be used.

When a customer wants to purchase a prepaid voucher at a store, the clerk or the customer operates the client, and the printer prints identification information necessary for settlement on a medium for the prepaid voucher, and prints the prepaid voucher. Is output. If the customer operates the client himself, like a vending machine,
The operation may be enabled after the payment. Not only when the customer operates the client at the store to issue the prepaid voucher, but also when the store clerk operates the client at the store and issues the prepaid voucher, the printer outlet 5 can be used by the customer. If turned, the information on the prepaid voucher is only visible to the customer. Therefore, it is not necessary to conceal the identification information necessary for settlement so that it cannot be seen by anyone other than the customer. Therefore, since the identification information necessary for settlement can also serve as the management identification number, a management identification number is separately provided. No need. Hereinafter, the identification number required for settlement is simply referred to as an identification number.

When the clerk or the customer operates the client, the printer prints the identification information on the medium for the prepaid voucher and outputs the prepaid voucher together with information other than the identification information. Is also good. Hereinafter, information printed by the printer of the system of the present invention is referred to as print information including identification information. Examples of print information other than identification information include:
The types of goods and services that can be settled, the maximum amount of money that can be settled, and the time limit for making payment can be cited.

The medium for the prepaid voucher may be a paper sheet or a card, and its material and shape are not limited. If the prepaid voucher is a card, it is called a prepaid card.

The database includes a collection of sales management records and a collection of unissued identification information records. The sales management record corresponds to a prepaid voucher that has been sold, and has at least data items for recording identification information and a sales date. For example, when the identification information is composed of two pieces of ID and password, as shown in FIG. 3, it is a record composed of three data items of ID, password and sales date.

The record for unissued identification information corresponds to a prepaid voucher in stock. The unissued identification information record may have at least data items for recording the identification information and whether or not the information has been sold. For example, if the identification information is I
D and a password, as shown in FIG.
D, a password, and a record including three sold data items. A sold data item has two values, a mark indicating unsold and a mark indicating sold.
As an initial value, a mark indicating unsold is recorded. Each time a prepaid voucher is issued, the sold data item of the record having the identification information printed on the prepaid voucher is rewritten from a mark indicating unsold to a mark indicating sold.

The record for unissued identification information has at least a data item for recording identification information, and need not have a data item for recording whether or not the information has been sold. For example, when the identification information is composed of two pieces of ID and password, as shown in FIG. 5, the record is composed of two data items of ID and password. The identification information of a registered record means unissued identification information, and every time a prepaid voucher is issued, a record having the identification information printed on the prepaid voucher is deleted.

When printing the print information other than the identification information, the sales management record and the unissued identification information record may have data items for recording the print information other than the identification information.

In the following, the sales management record has data items for recording the identification information and the sale date, and the unissued identification information record contains the identification information, whether or not the information has been sold, and print information other than the identification information. The flow of processing for issuing a prepaid voucher when there is a data item to be recorded will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

STEP 1: The client receives a request for issuing a prepaid voucher from a clerk or customer.

STEP2: The client sends to the server:
Request to send print information including identification information.

STEP 3: The server searches the database, selects one record for unissued identification information marked with unsold, and sends print information including the identification information recorded in the record to the client. . further,
The server rewrites the data item for recording whether or not the unissued identification information record having the identification information sent to the client has been sold from the unsold mark to the sold mark. This rewriting is performed to prevent duplicate transmission of the identification information when a plurality of clients request to transmit print information including the identification information at the same time.

STEP4: The client receives the print information including the identification information, knows the date by the built-in clock, prints the print information including the identification information and the date on a medium for a prepaid voucher with a printer, and prepaid. Output as a ceremony voucher. This date is the issue date of the prepaid voucher.

STEP 5: The client sends the printed identification information and the date to the server.

STEP 6: The server receives the printed identification information and the date, records the identification information as the identification information, and registers a record for sale in which the date is recorded as the sales date in the database.

In the following, the sales management record has data items for recording identification information, print information other than the identification information, and the sales date, and the unissued identification information record contains the identification information and the print information other than the identification information. The flow of processing for issuing a prepaid voucher when there is a data item for recording information and no data item for recording whether or not it has been sold will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

STEP 1: The client receives a print request for a prepaid voucher from a clerk or customer.

STEP2: The client sends to the server:
Request to send print information including identification information.

STEP 3: The server searches the database, selects one record for unissued identification information, and sends print information including the identification information recorded in the record to the client. Further, sales management that records print information other than the identification information recorded in the unissued identification information record having the identification information sent to the client as the identification information sent to the client as the identification information, as print information other than the identification information. A record for the database in the database. Then, the server deletes the unissued identification information record having the identification information sent to the client from the database. The reason for deleting the unissued identification record is to prevent duplicate transmission of the identification information when a plurality of clients request to send print information including the identification information at the same time. The reason for registering the sales management record is to prevent the identification information and print information other than the identification information from being lost from the database when the unissued identification record is deleted.

STEP4: The client receives the print information including the identification information, knows the date with the built-in clock, prints the print information including the identification information and the date on a medium for a prepaid voucher with a printer, and prepaid. Output as a ceremony voucher. This date is the issue date of the prepaid voucher.

STEP 5: The client sends the printed identification information and the date to the server.

STEP 6: The server receives the printed identification information and the date, and records the date of printing in the data item for recording the sales date of the sales management record having the printed identification information.

As described above, since the information on the prepaid vouchers sold and the prepaid vouchers in stock is recorded in the database, the prepaid vouchers can be recorded by using the report creation function of the server. Reports on sales performance, inventory status, etc.

[0039]

According to the system of the present invention, since the prepaid voucher is issued and immediately delivered to the purchaser, there is an effect that the identification information can be seen only by the purchaser. Therefore, there is no need to conceal the identification information, and the prepaid voucher can be made inexpensive and environmentally friendly.

Since there is no need to hide the identification information, there is no need to separately provide a management identification number. In addition, the media for the prepaid voucher before the identification information is printed,
Since it is not a voucher, there is no need to spend time on inventory management. A database that records information on inventory and sales is centrally managed by the server, and based on the information, reports such as sales performance and inventory status of prepaid vouchers can be created. Has the effect of reducing. Therefore, there is an effect that the management of the prepaid voucher becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a discharge port of the printer.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a sales management record.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a record for unissued identification information.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of another example of a record for unissued identification information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a process for issuing a prepaid card in the system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Server 2 ... Auxiliary storage device 3 ... Network 4 ... Printer 5 ... Outlet 11 ... Client 12 ... Printer 21 ... Client 22 ... Printer 31 ... Client 32 ... Printer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A system in which a server that manages a database that records at least information on inventory and sales of prepaid vouchers and clients installed at one or more stores are connected via a network, A means by which the client accepts the issuance of a prepaid voucher; a means by which the client requests the server to send identification information; a means by which the server searches a database to send unissued identification information to the client; Means for receiving the identification information, outputting a prepaid voucher on which the identification information and the issue date are printed, and returning to the server that the output has been completed, and the server recording the issue date as a sale date in a database. Means, and a prepaid voucher issuing system. 2. A system in which a server that manages a database that records at least information on inventory and sales of prepaid vouchers and clients installed at one or more stores are connected by a network, Means for the client to accept issuance of a prepaid voucher; means for the client to request the server to send print information including identification information; and means for the server to search a database for print information including unissued identification information. Means for sending to the client, the print information including the identification information, the print information including the identification information and the issuance date is printed to output a prepaid voucher, and means for returning to the server that the output is completed, Means for recording, in a database, the date of issue as a date of sale in a database; Voucher issuing system. 3. The prepaid voucher issuing system according to claim 1, wherein said server comprises means for preparing a report based on information on inventory and sales recorded in a database.